Watch us take down hordes of enemies in Dynasty Warriors: 8 Empires for Xbox One

Every weekend, Windows Central streams an Xbox One game or two on Twitch for 1-2 hours and gives out free games to the cool people who join us during the stream. It's like a live podcast, only you also get to watch a game while chatting with our awesome readers and viewers!

Tonight at 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific, 2am GMT), we'll be playing Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires from Koei Tecmo. The latest in the Dynasty Warriors series, Empires features a mix of strategic kingdom management and battles with hundreds of enemies on-screen. Read on for quick impressions, contest winners, and the full video replay!

Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires

The latest entry in the Dynasty Warriors series that started it all, Empires takes place within China's Three Kingdoms period. Like Warriors Orochi 3: Ultimate, much of the gameplay involves hacking and slashing at battlefields filled with hundreds of enemy warriors at once. But this one includes a lot more simulation and strategy elements.

Players will choose from several independent campaigns and then choose from several historical characters, each with unique abilities that allow them to excel at different roles outside of the battlefield. You can be a leader and set policies for your government, exercising diplomacy with other nations. Or choose to be a soldier and rise through the ranks as you complete missions for your country.

New features in Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires include the ability to customize your soldiers, horses, and banner (in addition to general character customization). Players can marry an NPC and have children who will receive their parents' traits and grow to become warriors someday. Seasons and weather now affect battles as well.

With a variety of mission types and simulation-focused activities, Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires is far more than just a hack-and-slash game. The menus can be too complicated for my liking, but stick with it and you're bound to love conquering your own Chinese empires.

Sneak Peak – Arslan: The Warriors of Legend

After Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires wraps up, we're going to take a special look at Koei Tecmo's upcoming game Arslan: The Warriors of Legend.

Based on the Japanese anime and manga The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Koei Tecmo's latest takes places in a medieval fantasy setting. Players control Arslan, a prince who finds himself in constant danger when a neighboring kingdom overthrows his country's government and captures his parents. Arslan will have to rely on his few surviving friends as they work to build an army and take back their kingdom.

Arslan: The Warriors of Legend features the Warriors/Musou series' traditional large-scale battles, with hundreds of enemies filling the screen. New mechanics make Arslan stand out from other Warriors games, such as the Rush system in which the heroes' army charges on horseback at opposing forces. A compelling story will keep players engrossed as they experience Arslan's journey and struggles.

Koei Tecmo's Arslan: The Warriors of Legend comes to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam on Wednesday, February 9. Get your first look at this grand adventure as we play the Steam version (on low graphical settings) on Twitch!

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Future streams

Want to know what's next for Windows Central's Twitch programming? We stream a different game every Saturday. The stream always starts at the same time: 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific, 2am GMT). Over the next few weeks, we'll be streaming the following (schedule not finalized):

SUNDAY, January 24: A special preview of Clockwork Tales for Xbox One, complete with advance copies to win!

Saturday, January 30: Paul will be out of town at PAX South, but we'll still have a stream with Steam codes to win!

February or March: The Fall with special guest cohost, a member of the game's development team!

February or March: Tachyon Project

February or March: Neverwinter: Underdark – See the newest free Neverwinter expansion and win premium items!

February or March: Lifeless Planet

February 27: BladeStorm: Nightmare from Koei Tecmo We hope you'll tune in as often as you can! Set a recurring alarm on your phone so you'll always know when it's time for the stream to start.

Winners

These guys are about to go to battle...

Xbox One

Kufeifei

Mtaraylz

Dakrkplayer2

Swizzlerzs

Alnuks

Qwe123878

Graxiplon_

Drake_meme

Lightspeedhalo

Thesnapplecap

PlayStation 4

Jurassicworld

Psnaddicts

Coppernicky

Earthbound29

Eajlaxer

Steam

Seth_reaver

Brownmeister2

Shawnsig

Socalledgamer

GuybrushThreepwood

Tonight's prizes provided by Koei Tecmo. Thanks also to our Twitch stream moderators for keeping the peace and giving away the prizes!

As I mentioned to Paul on Twitter I am planning on being there for at least part of the stream tonight. Given it is my weekend with my kids not sure if I'll be able to hang around for the whole stream but looking forward to participating once again!!